Silence from the ICC judges hearing the Netanyahu case – Technologist

On March 17, 2023, it took the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) just 23 days to confirm the arrest warrants requested by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova. But more than five months after being filed on May 20, ICC magistrates are still deliberating on the arrest warrants requested by the same prosecutor for crimes committed in Israel and Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The warrants were requested for Khan target Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and – if the judges do not obtain proof of his death – Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s military wing. The three judges’ slowness opens the door to possible pressure on them, fueling suspicions about their own independence and raising questions about the very relevance of ICC jurisdiction.

“While arrest warrants in themselves won’t stop crimes, they could have a real effect on the ground and potentially save many lives,” said international law professor Adil Haque, a seasoned ICC observer. For this American academic, “arrest warrants could end up changing the behavior of Israel’s allies, including the US and Germany,” the Hebrew state’s main arms suppliers.

Over the past five months, the judges have stepped up the number of exceptional procedures. At the request of the United Kingdom – which in early June wished to intervene as amicus curiae (“friend of the Court”) only eventually to withdraw – they allowed dozens of states, lawyers and think tanks, including some from evangelical Christian lobbies and the Western far right, to submit briefs. Then in mid-September, breaking with its usual refusal to deal with the ICC, Israel joined the proceedings, sending two briefs to the judges – one unsurprisingly challenging the Court’s jurisdiction, the other asking it to relinquish jurisdiction in favor of the Israeli courts.

The Hague in its own bubble

Israel claims to be in a position to try, on its own soil, those allegedly responsible for violations of international law committed in Gaza. This is in the hope of escaping the sword of the ICC, which only intervenes as a last resort. This is how the United Kingdom, implicated in cases of torture in Iraq, managed to escape the jurisdiction of the Hague court. Since the spring, US leaders such as Senator Lindsey Graham and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been weighing up this option. According to a seasoned observer of the Court, “if Israel participates, it is undoubtedly because it has obtained a guarantee” that the case will be referred in its favor.

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